It will definitely damage the OSB after a while. It can handle a few days of rain, but you have to make sure it is probably dry before you put the house wrap and siding on. It is not an ideal situation that's for sure.

Looking good When you get around to doing it, please post some detailed pics of how you secure those walls to the floor. Is it done with coach screws?

We just nail it down. 2 nails through the bottom plate of the wall in to the joists under the plywood.

Wow, now I would have over-engineered that for sure It surprises me that the roof needs to get tied into the top of the walls but the bottom simply nailed down. I guess once all the walls are tied together the weight alone is more than enough to hold it all down?

Looking good When you get around to doing it, please post some detailed pics of how you secure those walls to the floor. Is it done with coach screws?

We just nail it down. 2 nails through the bottom plate of the wall in to the joists under the plywood.

Wow, now I would have over-engineered that for sure It surprises me that the roof needs to get tied into the top of the walls but the bottom simply nailed down. I guess once all the walls are tied together the weight alone is more than enough to hold it all down?

Same, would also over engineer it.

Does the side panels or external panel help to bind the walls with the floor?

With your low temperatures I presume you have to achieve specific u-values. How do they check that? Approved construction/insulation method?

Using bolts to secure the bottom plate will not really improve the "strength". Remember, the vertical studs is also only nailed to the bottom plate with 4 nails per stud. So the same force that could rip out the nails that go through the bottom plate in to the floor joists, will now rip out the nails holding the studs to the floor plate if the bottom plate was bolted down. So if you want to bolt the bottom plate to the floor, you should also bolt the studs to the bottom plate, and then bolt the top plate as well, and so it goes on. Code requires R24 bat insulation in the walls and R31 in ceiling. If my calculations is correct a U value of 0.041 for walls and 0.032 for ceiling?

That is the one thing that bothers me about the standard method of timber construction in USA, Canada, Australia and NZ...

Nailing.

To me, constructing something that you want to last 30+ years, you use a more secure, more permanent fixing method.

"Glue and screw" ?

A bit of acrylic glue and good threaded shafts can only be better...?!

Just my 2c worth.

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LIFE'S MUCH COOLER WITHOUT UNDERWEAR,Life-long supporter of the "Free the Nipple" movementAIRHEADS ARE AN ADMIRABLE ADDICTION !Life is far too short to be taken too seriously. I'm far too short to be taken too seriously.

The technology around nails has improved. Nowdays it is almost impossible to pull out a properly inserted nail from a piece of wood. The nails have serrations on them, almost like the threads of a screw, and believe me when I say that they SIT. Trying to get stuff apart for repairs is a hellofa mission. Easier to insert the sawsall with a steel cutting blade and just cut the nails off between the two pieces of wood.

And the speed of insertion with those big nail guns cannot be beaten. Not to mention that its pretty cool to shoot 4 inch nails into wood...

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Young enough to know I can, old enough to know I shouldn't, stupid enough to do it anyway.

The technology around nails has improved. Nowdays it is almost impossible to pull out a properly inserted nail from a piece of wood. The nails have serrations on them, almost like the threads of a screw, and believe me when I say that they SIT. Trying to get stuff apart for repairs is a hellofa mission. Easier to insert the sawsall with a steel cutting blade and just cut the nails off between the two pieces of wood.

And the speed of insertion with those big nail guns cannot be beaten. Not to mention that its pretty cool to shoot 4 inch nails into wood...

The walls are standing. Hopefully I can use my neighbour's crane to lift the trusses up. It has rained 3 inches since Tuesday morning, and walking back and forth on the disturbed soil is creating a muddy mess.

But a way I learned when I helped a local buddy out with his shed was to push each truss into its spot upside down. Then to just flip it over and secure it. The first two were difficult, because there was nothing to secure them to. But after that they went easy.

But I'm sure that you know that method.

I'd love to come up and help, but just started the new job and not going to get any time off for a long time...

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Young enough to know I can, old enough to know I shouldn't, stupid enough to do it anyway.

So we made some progress the last few days. It is going very slow because I also had to do 9 x 12 hour shifts at work. The roof trusses are coming along. Slower than anticipated because somewhere there was an 1/8" (inch) miscalculation. To keep the original roof lined up with the addition, we have to shave off this much...

...where it sits on the top plate...

But it is not too much of an issue

In order to "waterproof" the crawlspace, we prime it with a green sealer and stick "blue skin" over it. This stuff is amazing. It is a thick, tough membrane that sticks on the wood and prevents the soil from sitting directly on the wood, prolonging its lifespan

Then we fill and level off the gravel (that acts as drainage) and cover it with sheets of styrofoam to act as insulation between the cold frost that will be driven down from the top and the absorbed heat of the ground from the bottom.If the frost makes it in under your foundation, it will literally push your house up one or two inches, cracking the drywall and breaking your windows. The trick here is to make sure the gravel is level so that the weight of the backfill doesn't crack the styrofoam, and then you have to backfill so that there is a natural slope away from the house. This is absolutely critical when you do your build. If you get this wrong you will have endless problems for the rest of your life

This animation explains the frost (look for the dark blue dotted line that represents 0 degrees)